Ozone has unique biological properties that are applied in various medical
fields. Ozone therapy is widely used to treat a number of medical conditions
and although it has yielded very promising beneficial results, there are still
skepticism and questions regarding its safety and effectiveness. To shed
some light on these issues, we determined the effect of O3-AHT using an
O2/O3 gas mixture containing 20 and 40 g/ml O3 on the antioxidant status
and DNA integrity in baboons. We used six healthy baboons and treated
them with both concentrations approximately a month apart. The baboons
were anesthetized with intramuscular ketamin hydrochloride (±10mg/kg) to
enable handling and blood sample collection. Five percent blood of a baboon
was collected and exposed to ozone ex vivo for 20 min. Thereafter it was
reinfused into the animals. Blood samples were taken before treatment and
again after 4, 24 and 48 hours following reinfusion of the ozonated blood. I
measured the ORAC, FRAP, GSHt and the SOD activity to asses the
antioxidant status. DNA damage and repair was determined using single cell
gel electrophoreses (comet assay) on lymphocytes. There was a slightly
negative effect on the antioxidant status after O3-AHT, but the body was able
to restore it to pretreatment levels. The DNA integrity was minimally affected
by O3-AHT. There was no increase in DNA damage following O3-AHT with 40
g/ml. A significant increase in DNA damage occurred 24 hours following O3-
AHT with 20 g/ml. This increase can possibly be due to an accumulative
effect of the ketamin and not due to O3-AHT. The DNA repair capacity was
slightly decreased after ozone therapy but the decrease was not significant.
From our results it is clear that O3-AHT had no adverse affect on the
antioxidant status of the baboons and the DNA integrity of their lymphocytes.
The results also indicate that 40 g/ml O3 is a safe concentration to use for
O3-AHT since its effects are similar to that of a O2/O3 gas mixture containing
80 g/ml O3.

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North-West University

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The effect of autohaemotherapy with different ozone concentrations on the oxidant/antioxidant status and DNA integrity of baboons / Christiaan Frederick Labuschagne